The fact that Etienne had recovered my phone was truly a blessing. Thanks to that, I was able to check the bus schedule and find out that a strike was planned around midday, not far from the area I was going to.

Not wanting to take the risk of travelling on a disrupted service, and wanting even less to take the risk of taking the metro, I set out for a two and a half-hour walk to the other end of the city.

The 11th district, where I was headed, lay right next to the 20th, which not only harboured the previously mentioned Cemetery, but also a few other small Wild Land Zones. These zones had not yet been reclaimed for multiple reasons. Some had entrances to dungeons and allowed for residential buildings to be occupied within the zone if the dungeon was of low level and showed low re-spawn rates. Others lay on private land, which wasn’t owned by the city, hence the city council had no means of urbanising them.

Wild Lands could easily be spotted from afar, from the tall walls or magical barriers surrounding them, or from the exotic animal and monster cries that often came from within. During the night, some of these rifts in reality would light up like northern lights. I had been told it was quite a sight to behold. But I had never tried to experience it for myself, as I didn’t have much faith in the tourist agencies running events in the Wild Lands.

I had almost arrived at my destination when I was pulled out of my reverie by the loud sirens of an ambulance. I watched as two medical vehicles rushed right passed me, followed by two military jeeps. Although the cars rode by fast, I managed to get a good look at the passengers of the open-roof jeeps. Two were dressed in military uniform, and three were dressed as cosplayers at Comic-Con. None of them had any guns on display, although one did clench onto an oversized great sword.

I eyed them with jealousy as they disappeared amongst the streets. This is the kind of life a reincarnated person should have been living; an exhilarating mixture of danger and adventure, with crazy and unrealistic powers, and alongside loyal companions.

Meanwhile, here I was, still unable to ask my crush out on a date.

I checked my phone and was surprised that Google Maps wanted me to head towards the direction the ambulances had come from. The app then suggested I walk around what it displayed as a big red blob but was in fact a Wild Land. I wasn’t too keen on the idea, but to take an alternative route I would have had to circle back, so in the end I went for it. From what I knew, an attack just outside of a Wild Land was highly improbable. Usually, when monsters did escape, they'd run as far as they could to create the maximum amount of chaos.

As I approached the walled-off area, a short young man ran up to me.

“Excuse me! Please don’t enter the Land today. If you have booked a hunt, we can reimburse it-”

“I’m not planning to.” I cut him off, accentuating my point with a hand gesture.

“Oh.” He paused, looking surprised. “My apologies in this case, it’s just that I’ve had a few people-” He shook his head, cutting himself short.

I nodded with compassion. I knew what it was like dealing with customers who refused to listen, and it seemed whatever incident had occurred here had caused quite some turmoil.

“Don’t worry about it.” I smiled. “Usually when I have to deal with people like that, I play so dumb they get so pissed off that they leave by themselves. What is an expresso? Never heard of it.”

That seemed to have brought a smile to this man’s face.

“Thanks. Although I’m afraid in my case if I play dumb, I will get fired.” He said, as the smile vanished off his face.

That was also the case for me, but a little white lie had never hurt anyone.

He sighed, with his hands resting on his hips.

“The job description sounded like so much fun, you know, adventure, combat, good money. But with my skills all I’m good for is-” He cut himself short again. This seemed to be his usual talking pattern. “Sorry, I must really be bothering you.” He quickly apologized.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “You know what, if you ever drop by the Sacre-Coeur, there’s a coffee shop called ‘Chez Manon’ nearby. Take that one shady street with blue houses all the way to the intersection with a single-file staircase, then take a right. Drinks are on me.”

I didn’t typically go around offering free coffee to people, but he looked like he was in desperate need of a break, and maybe someone to talk to.

“Thank you.” He smiled, as his cheeks turned slightly pink. “My name is-”

“Jean-Yves!” Someone in the same military-style uniform as him called out.

“Yes, I’m coming!” The man I'd been talking to replied and ran over to the giant wall.

He waved goodbye to me, and I waved back, with an amused smile. It wasn’t that long ago that I was his age, and eager to get any student job I could land, just to get away from my parents, even for just a day.

It was with these bittersweet thoughts of my previous life that I continued my journey to the Oracle.